President and Chief Executive Officer
Sara Mayti/IAVI
Margaret (Margie) McGlynn is a biopharmaceutical executive with significant experience in the vaccine and antiretroviral markets. She retired from Merck in 2009, after 26 years with the company, last serving as President, Global Vaccines and Anti-Infectives. In that capacity, Margie was responsible for a US$7 billion portfolio of products and oversaw the launch of several vaccines, including Merck’s rotavirus vaccine, and Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent infection by several strains of the human papillomavirus, a common cause of cervical cancer. Over the course of her career at Merck, Margie played a prominent role in the company’s global health initiatives and drug and vaccine access programs. She was involved in the provision of Merck’s HIV drugs Stocrin and Crixivan at cost to developing countries, beginning in 2000. She also helped secure approval from Merck to launch, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership in Botswana, and to extend that program into its second phase in 2010. Margie has served on the board and executive committee of the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to bringing life-saving vaccines against common infectious diseases to people across the developing world. While at Merck, she also played a key role in establishing the Hilleman Laboratories, a partnership between Merck and the Wellcome Trust headquartered in New Delhi, India, that focuses on the discovery and development of new vaccines for the developing world.